High Court Helps Sailors In Destress

An SOS has been sent to Bombay high court seeking orders to the Union government to ensure repatriation of 19 Indian sailors who are marooned on a merchant ship off Fujairah Port in the United Arab Emirates.
A petition was filed on behalf of the crew by Darya Shipping, which has been appointed to man the vessel, LPG Maharshi Vamadeva, owned by Varun Shipping Resources, a company under liquidation.

The petition came up on Friday before a division bench of justices Naresh Patil and Girish Kulkarni.
The court was told that according to the captain, the ship is running out of supplies, including food and water. The bench has scheduled the matter for hearing on April 23.

The company, in its petition filed through advocate Abhishek Khare, has sought government intervention so that the Indian Consulate in UAE can process the crew’s immigration documents. The petition cited emails sent by the Master of the vessel that it was running out of Marine Gas Oil and would soon be in a blackout condition, which poses a navigational hazard. The ship’s supply of food is expected to last till April 25 and water supplies till the end of the month.

One of the crew members was suffering from chicken pox and there were problems related to basic hygiene due to blackout and rationing of water, the email said.

The LPG tanker’s woes started in June 2017 when the ship was arrested by the port authorities over non-payment of dues by the owner. The crew had then written to the embassy and ministry of external affairs. Subsequently, the owners went into liquidation and Darya Shipping was engaged in December 2017 for technical management of the ship.

The petition said they needed the Indian Consulate’s help for immigration clearance. Besides, the crew could not abandon ship without its papers cleared. The petitioner company has offered to temporarily bear all expenses in rescue and repatriation of the crew. The costs are to be subsequently reimbursed. The petitioner company said its own dues to manage the ship were pending and agents and vendors in Fujairah had refused to provide supplies and services without payment.